Spokeschild
by albinotanuki
Summary: This story will explain why and how Jojo became selectively mute. Ned is campaigning to become Mayor of Whoville, but what expense will it have on his son? Rated for Jojo and Ned angst/drama
1. Chapter 1

OOC: Okay, I wanted to write a HHaW fic explaining why Jojo never spoke. Reading his profile on the internet and reading about how kids with selective mutism normally can talk in other situations unless if they go through some traumatic experience, I figured there had to be MORE to Jojo's story than just not wanting to disappoint his father because he doesn't want to be mayor.

* * *

Jojo the who was quiet and shy.

Why he didn't talk, few people knew why.

But the story I tell will clear things a bit;

Just pull up a chair, listen, and sit.

Our story begins many years ago

When our young who was but a small Jojo...

* * *

For many generations, the McDodd (descendants of the founders of Whoville) have run for public office and served as mayor of the city; it was tradition for a McDodd to become Mayor. It was also tradition for the eldest child of the McDodd family to serve as a mascot and spokeschild for their parent's campaign, in hope that the child will one day become mayor himself.

Jojo, who was no older than four or less, was handed over to his mother after his father, Ned McDodd, made his speech and showed him off to the crowd as they cheered. Ned felt pride in both himself and his son, but Jojo was shy and hated being in front of the public eye. Not only that, but being on the campaigns made him weary and tired.

"Well, at least the crowd seemed to like Jojo", said Ned after stepping off the podium and walking over to his wife, Sally, "I can see him becoming a GREAT mayor some day."

"Yeah, about that," Sally said, patting her tired Jojo on the back as she held him, "Ned, I'm very proud that you've come this far and want to make a difference in this city, but don't you think Jojo is a little young to be in these campaigns?"

"Sally, I'm only doing this to show our son what its like to be on the campaign trail so that, someday, he too will understand what its like to become mayor; its family tradition."

"Thats the thing; what if he doesn't WANT to be mayor when he grows up?"

"Well he's still young, so we'll just have to wait, won't we?" Ned said in an optimistic voice, looking over at his son with pride, unable to see his son's reluctance.

"Mommy," Jojo moaned in a tired child's voice, "want Yopp."

Sally sighed with a bit of annoyance as she handed Jojo his yo-yo (yopp). "Jojo's is always tired after these campaigns. You said yourself how stressed you were after your father brought you to his campaigns and even he himself hated it."

"But I had a greater appreciation for what my dad was doing after that. So many people looked up to him and he made such a big contribution to Whoville. Ever since, I wanted to be just like him; one of the Greats."

But before Sally could protest some more, Ms. Yelp came over with her arms trying to hold as many who babies as possible.

"McDodd, when you asked me to be your campaign secretary, you didn't mention ANYTHING about being a babysitter either!"

"Sorry Ms. Yelp, things have been a bit stressful with the campaign." Ned sighed.

"I bet it is, freezing up on stage and rambling about your sock monkey after you lose the speech I helped write for you in the bathroom!"

Ned blushed at Ms. Yelp's embarrassing, yet true remark; he DID actually make a 20 minute speech about his sock monkey, which he STILL sleeps with to this day.

"Here, I'll take over from here." Sally said grabbing each of her daughters as if they were a heap of laundry (which wasn't all that uncomfortable for the babies, since whos are so flexible, but it does cause some backache for the parents holding them, and poor little Jojo underneath was getting squished). "You can take the day off now."

"I swear, if I have to work for you for another ten years, I'm going to put on weight." Ms. Yelp grumbled as she stomped off.

Sally sighed, just as tired as her son. "We should get home too, Ned." she said, taking Ned's arm and smiling at him. Despite his flaws, Sally loved her husband, none the less.

* * *

Ned had trouble sleeping that night. He didn't know why; perhaps it was the storm, or perhaps the spirit of his own father had been haunting him in his sleep. Either way, Ned decided to get up and walk around the house a bit before going back to bed.

Walking through the hallways, Ned began to think about his own father, who had never really approved of anything, not even being the mayor he was elected to be. To Ned, he had always seemed distant and reluctant about his wishes and dreams of carrying on the family tradition of being Mayor. As he came into the Hall of the Greats and looked up at his father's portrait, he regretted never asking the late McDodd if he had truly loved him.

"I'm sorry if I couldn't be everything you wanted me to be." Ned sighed, as he talked to the portrait as if it were his real father, "I just hope you're proud of me now, even with the choices I've made so far..."

Ned heard something dropped and turned around startled. It was his son, Jojo with his "yopp" on the floor with the string loop still around Jojo's little finger.

"Oh, hey Jojo. W--what are you doing up so late?"

Ned had been too busy worrying about his deceased father and his mayoral campaign to realize it was still storming outside until a flash of lightning and a hug bang of thunder filled the air. Jojo flinched and came over to Ned's side, clutching onto his leg.

"Make it stop, daddy! Make it stop!" Jojo whimpered with small tears in his big brown eyes. For a little boy which many complained had the loudest voice, one would be surprised to see him afraid of something like thunder if they didn't know him.

Even though Ned might not have been the perfect father, it didn't stop his paternal instincts from taking over and try to help comfort his son.

"Jojo, if I could make the storm less scary for you, I could, but I can't control the weather."

Jojo clung tighter to Ned's leg, burying his face in his father's fur. Ned couldn't help but feel sorry for his boy, so he knelt down and put his arm around him.

"We'll be safe in this house, Jojo." said Ned reassuringly," As your father, I will never let ANYTHING or ANYONE hurt you. I promise." Ned smiled, picked up Jojo's yo-yo, and handed it over to Jojo. "Here, maybe you can drown out the noise with a little 'Rattlesnake' from your Yopp."

Jojo smiled. The Rattlesnake was his favorite yo-yo trick; the way it skidded across his legs and made its rattling sound was like strumming the string on a bass guitar. Jojo smiled with joy before another crash of lightning sounded and the little who held onto his father, quivering.

Ned sighed, almost laughing to himself as he picked up Jojo in his arms.

"Lets get to bed. We have a big day ahead of us." Ned patted Jojo on the back as he carried the little boy to his room.

* * *

OOC: I know, not my BEST work, but the story will get more interesting, I promise. Oh, and for the Quest for Camelot fans out there, I promise after I finish this, I'll get back to Lilithian Bargain. Anywho, please R&R


	2. Chapter 2

OOC: Okay, here's the long awaited chapter 2. Some of the themes might be a little confusing for the audience, so don't be afraid to ask any questions. Also, I'm not sure if I should keep the rating K+ or chage it to T. Just read and let me know if I should change tohe rating.

* * *

As the clock ticked, ballots were being counted at Whoville City Hall. Ned knew this day would come, but knowing made the who all the more anxious. Jojo was just as nervous as his father and he hated people gawking at him as if he were a prized jewel at a museum; he clung onto his yo-yo for security as he sat in his father's lap as Ned waited for the final results of the electoral ballot.

Council Chairman VonFrood came reluctantly up to the front podium with an envelope in his green hands. As much as he would've liked to say that Ned McDodd had lost his campaign, everyone would know he was lying, not only because the rest of the council had seen the ballot results, but because, ironically, Ned was the only candidate in the race. In truth, he hated his guts and envied the fact that he was from the prodigious McDodd family (since no other family name could or has ever taken up the mayoral line).

"And the winner is... McDodd."

Ned was ecstatic. He kissed Jojo on the cheek in his excitement; Jojo tried wipe the kiss off his cheek (he didn't exactly HATE kisses, but it was embarrassing to get them when he doesn't WANT them). Ned stepped up to the podium with Jojo in his arms as he waved to the crowd.

"Congratulation on your big win, McDodd, or should I say 'Mr. Mayor'." VonFrood said, shaking Ned's hand.

"Thank you."

"I'm sure you'll become one of the Greats." VonFrood praised before mumbling, "If only we could've had more candidates."

"Wait, what was that?" Ned asked, a bit confused, after hearing VonFrood mumbling.

"Nothing." VonFrood said in a sly tone, "I was just thinking, and I know I'm not the only one, that this would've been MUCH more of an interesting race if we didn't have just one person competing. Seems a little unfair for the rest of us who want a little more VARIETY in who they want as mayor; I'm sure your parents would've realized it by now, especially your father."

"Well, it wasn't my dad's fault that he couldn't have anymore kids after me." Ned spoke, nervously, knowing he was being challenged by someone who had much more charisma than he could ever obtain.

"Oh, SURE it wasn't." VonFrood said, rolling his eyes in sarcasm.

Ned quickly took offense to the chairman's rude comment, "Okay, that was uncalled for; you KNEW he had glaucoma!"

Everyone knew this little squabble between the two whos would not turn out well and began to worry; especially Sally, who called out to her husband.

"Ned, let it go!"

VonFrood yelled back at Sally, "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, WOMAN!"

"You can't talk to my wife like that!"

"And what are YOU going to do about it?"

As much as Ned wanted to punch VonFrood in the face, he couldn't. Not because it would make him look bad in front of the citizens of Whoville, but he because he truly WAS afraid of VonFrood.

"Just as I thought." VonFrood sneered, "Even as mayor, you haven't the guts to stand up for the people you care about."

Jojo cringed as the council chairman verbally abused his father.

"If they have had the choice, the citizens of Whoville would NEVER elect such a SPINELESS, IMPOTENT, BONE-HEADED LITTLE--"

Jojo held his yo-yo tightly to his body, but the yo-yo slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.

"YOPP!"

As Jojo's loud 'YOPP!' echoed, the building began to shake and crumble. The frightened whos screamed in fear and tried to scramble from the falling debris. Looking up and seeing the chunks of building fall, Ned was too afraid to move out of the way, but from the way Jojo was clinging onto his fur in fear, he knew he had to shield his son from the debris, so he held his son in an embrace as the building collapsed.

A few seconds later, and the entire city hall had collapsed to the ground. Such disasters had never happened before (or at least no one ever talked about the other disasters that had happened before; such talk was considered unwho-like). After the dust cleared, the whos, unhurt and still alive to their surprise, arose from the ruins. They all turned and looked over at Ned, who was holding frightened little Jojo in his arms. Ned felt a twinge embarrassment as everyone was staring at him and stepped back a few inches.

* * *

Nightfall came, but the night seemed darker for poor Ned, who sat on the master bed sulking while Sally brushed his fur. He still couldn't get those dreadful moments at Whoville City Hall.

"I can't believe he would say such things in front of the whole city; I can't believe he'd yell back at you like that too."

"Oh, I'm not worried about what he said about me;" Sally replied, trying to comfort her husband, "I'm more concerned about you."

"I know. The way he was making fun of me and my dad, I almost felt like punching him in his big mustache face." Ned sighed, "VonFrood is such a big jerk."

"Well he was wrong to have called you out like that. I'm just glad no one was hurt from the building falling."

"Yeah..." Ned sighed, remembering that terrifying moment at Whoville Hall and getting up, "I'm gonna go check on the kids."

As Ned went out of the master bedroom, Jojo, who had crepped out of his bedroom, was nervously following behind Ned from the other side of the hallway, holding his yo-yo close to his heart as if he were preparing to apologize about causing City Hall to fall down, but Ned barely noticed him; he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"No one ever wanted to elect you, McDodd!"

'VonFrood?!' Ned thought he was going crazy, hearing the chairman's voice speaking to him and seeing him in every corner of the house.

"Admit it, Mr. Mayor," VonFrood smirked, "even your dear old DAD didn't want you as. Why would he have not encouraged you after his campaign?"

Again, VonFrood played the Father/Son card on the poor who. Ned shot back at the chairman.

"He only wanted me to make my own decisions with my life!"

"And where was he after that? Where was he at the school's PTA meeting? Where was he when on your first day of college? Did he ever REALLY show up on your wedding day?"

Ned stuttered as he tried to defend himself, "I—I'm sure he had things to do on those days."

"Come on, Ned," VonFrood sneered, "you KNOW the real reason he was never there for you; just admit it."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

SLAP!

Ned flung his arm out at VonFrood, but when he slapped against his face, Ned realized that it wasn't the council chairman he hit, but his own son, thrown to the ground with his yo-yo broken and bruised to the face. Ned was in shock. Jojo looked up at his father in shock and horror.

"JOJO, I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN--"

Jojo flinched. Did his father think his actions at city hall were THAT embarrassing? Was he going to hit him again? Jojo's face began to flood with tears and started to cry.

Hearing her baby's cry, Sally rushed outside and could not believe what she saw.

"NED, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"SALLY, WAIT, THIS ISN'T WHAT IT--"

But before he could explain, Sally scooped up little crying Jojo and ran down the hallway, not daring to look back at Ned. She didn't want to believe her own Ned would do such a thing.

Ned's heart began to sink as he watched Sally leave with Jojo. He looked down at the broken yo-yo on the ground and scooped it up in his hands, not mourning for the yo-yo itself, but the innocence he mightn't destroyed along with it. Tears began to fill his eyes; he never meant to hurt his only son.

'Jojo' he murmured, 'I promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. Instead, I was the one who was hurting you...'

* * *

OOC: I know, sappy. I'll have to add though, even though VonFrood's a big jerk, he DOES make a valid point on his arguement; you can't have a republic if you only have ONE candidate to elect for office. Anywho, please R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

OOC: Okay, last chapter. I know, some of you are probably going "aww man, don't end here". Well, you know I promised I'd work on my Quest for Camelot fic after this. If you want to make your own continuation to this, talk to me and I'll see if we can set something up.

* * *

The insurance company was commissioned to replace city hall in a sum of ten-thousand who-dollars while the council chairman personally paid money to install a new "happy dome" (to block out "private conversation" from the other attendants). The council meeting had to be move down into the underground storage area; The council found it necessary to try Ned for the incidents that took place at Whoville Hall.

The large storage area was dark and damp with one overhanging lamp shining its blinding light down on Ned as if it were trying to fry him like an egg. The council, sitting in their makeshift thrones, looked down at the newly elected mayor with grimaces on their faces, making Ned all the more uncomfortable in the sizzling light.

"Look, I know things haven't gone QUITE as well as we all would've liked--"

"You're not making this easy on yourself, Mr. Mayor." VonFrood spoke, in a bit of annoyance.

"I know," Ned cleared his voice nervously "and as mayor, I'll take FULL responsibility for the charges."

"No need." VonFrood explained, reading a copy of the Whoville Constitution, "Constitutional law says that any mayor elected can't be impeached for the actions of his or her blood relatives, so we can't charge you for your son's actions yesterday."

"Well, it wasn't really his fault." Ned said shrugging his shoulders, "Sure, he can be loud at times, but Jojo's just a kid; it was all an accident."

"An accident that cost us ten-thousand who-dollars to replace!"

"Look, he only yelled because he was scared, and the reason he was scared was because we both got into and argument; I should be the one to blame in all this, and so should you." Ned said looking at the councilman with a stern eye.

"Fine." VonFrood spoke before mumbling, "glad I don't have to take responsibility for that little brat."

Overhearing VonFrood, Ned nearly dropped his jaw. "What did you just call my son?"

"You must admit, Mr. Mayor, with you in the gene pool, its a better compliment than anything else I can think of calling him. I'd hate to see him grow up to be anything like you, let alone becoming mayor." VonFrood replied with a sly smirk on his face

In the past, Ned had been pushed around by VonFrood for as long as he could remember and he never fought back, but making fun of his own baby boy was the final straw for him. Ned climbed up on chairman's makeshift podium and looked at him with a strong face.

"Look here, you can criticize and make fun of me all you want, but when you bring my family into this, especially one of my own kids, thats when you've gone too far!"

"Trying to stand up to the big bully again, eh, Mr. Mayor?" VonFrood was impressed, but not as much as to be afraid of him, "What are you going to do? Hit me?"

As much as Ned WANTED to hit the councilman's to finally teach him a lesson, he couldn't. Flashing back to the very night he hit Jojo, thinking it was VonFrood while on the verge of insanity and seeing the frightened tears in his eyes, Ned was reluctant to make the same mistake again.

"...No. I'd rather not..."

"You're too easy." VonFrood smirked before slamming the gavel "Case dismissed!"

As the rest of the council left the room, Ned stood silently in the room, hanging his head in shame as the darkness of the room filled in deeper. Not only did he prove himself to be a coward, but he was also a terrible father. Jojo must hate him for his unintentional abuse. In Ned's mind, he was the fool of all fools. How could he ever redeem himself?

For some reason or another, Ned began to think of his own father. He was never really the best father in the world, but as a mayor, he always knew what to do for all the whos in Whoville. As he thought, Ned didn't ask himself what would his dad have done in this situation, but 'What would dad have done if he were given one more chance at life? What would he have done to make things up to me?'

Thats when it hit him. VonFrood didn't think that Jojo would ever become mayor, so perhaps if he could help Jojo along and encourage him in becoming mayor, not only would it proved the chairman wrong, but also bring him closer to his son and perhaps redeem himself in doing so.

Ned rushed home in excitement.

* * *

At home, Sally was busy, juggling each of her babies giving them their bottles, when Ned came in. Still angry about last night, Sally looked away, trying hard to ignore him.

Ned spoke, "Sally, I need to talk to Jojo."

"If you mean by 'talk', you mean giving him another bruise, than I won't allow it." Sally sneered while giving a baby her bottle.

"I just want to apologize for yesterday. It'll only take a second."

As much as Ned tried to get Sally to listen to him, she kept averting her eyes away. Ned knew he had to get her attention, so he grabbed her by the wrist and swung her over to his side, so she was looking at him face to face.

"Just give me one more chance to make it up to him, please..."

Sally heart softened as Ned looked at her with the saddest of puppy-dog eyes. She loved her husband and deep in her heart, she knew that Ned would NEVER hurt Jojo on purpose; she only needed to see to forgive. She nodded and showed Ned over to Jojo.

The small boy sat in a small corner of the room, holding a bag of frozen peas to his face. As his father approached him, he neither flinched nor whimpered; only looked up at him with sorrowful eyes.

Ned sighed before speaking, "Jojo, I'm sorry I hurt you and you have EVERY right to be angry with me, but I've NEVER meant to hurt you at all. It was all a stupid mistake I made and have a way to make it up to you." He then smiled with encouragement and put his hand on Jojo's shoulder, "Jojo, I'm going to help you become mayor!"

Jojo LOVED his father very much, even if he DID give him a mark on his kisser, but he was unsure about this "mayor" deal from the beginning, but his dad pressed on.

"I'll teach you everything from signing papers, cutting ribbons at building openings, managing who does what for the city; its going to be great and-- Jojo, whats wrong?"

Jojo tried to speak, but whenever he opened his mouth, nothing came out. Thats when Ned KNEW something was wrong.

"Oh no..." Ned scooped up his tiny son and called to Sally, "Sal, get the car started; we need to get to the hospital!"

* * *

The doctor looked at the boy from head to toe, trying to find out what was wrong with him. After evaluated Jojo, he sat down with the McDodds.

"Well, there's some bruising on his cheek, I'm guessing from the building collapse at city hall, but I can't find anything that would PHYSICALLY impair your son's speech, Mr. Mayor."

"Then why isn't he talking?" Ned asked, "It has to be something!"

"Well, it could be psychological."The doctor said, looking through his papers, "There's a mental disorder out there called selective mutism, where a child stops speaking in a given situation, but most children with the disorder aren't completely mute unless if they were to experience some sort of trauma in their lifetime. Tell me, other than the city hall incident, has he experienced anything frightening or would hurt him on some emotional level?"

Ned looked at Sally, who was maternally holding Jojo in her lap. Both were afraid of exposing the events that took place the following night; Not only would Ned's reputaiton as a father would be ruined as well as his Mayoral career, but there was also the risk that Jojo would be taken away from them. Neither one wanted to risk that chance.

"...No," Ned replied, while mournfully holding pieces of a broken yo-yo inside his pocket, "nothing..."

* * *

OOC: I know, overall, it wasn't anything spectacular. Anywho, if you DID like it, please R&R


End file.
